Two-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief has made a strong start as a sire of sires, and the popularity of his sons was in evidence during this breeding season. Now, Into Mischief and his sons will continue to be prominent throughout the November mixed sales. Into Mischief’s son Goldencents, who stands alongside him at Spendthrift Farm, was the busiest stallion in North America in 2021, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. He covered 230 mares this past breeding season, just edging out another Spendthrift-residing son of Into Mischief, Authentic, with 229. Mark Toothaker, the stallion sales manager at Spendthrift, gave a good deal of the credit for Goldencents’s popularity this season to the late Spendthrift founder B. Wayne Hughes, who died in August. Hughes had lowered the fees on the majority of his stallions for 2021 as a response to continuing industry struggles from the pandemic. Goldencents stood for $15,000 this season. “The $15,000 really moved the needle on him,” Toothaker said. “Mr. Hughes wanted to cut fees during the pandemic, he wanted to look out for breeders. It was just the magic number.” Goldencents has been a leading young sire throughout his career, beginning when he finished second by earnings and first by winners on the 2018 freshman sire list. He led the class by earnings as a second-crop sire and third-crop sire the next two years. He leads the fourth-crop sire list by earnings and is a top 20 general sire, having recently recorded his first Grade 1 winner, Going to Vegas. The filly has won three straight races, including the Grade 2 John C. Mabee at Del Mar and the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita. The latter effort earned her a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 6 at Del Mar. Three days later, she is set to go through the sale ring at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale. Another update would cause her value to increase. “Going to Vegas has also been a great filly for our partners,” said Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales, which will consign the filly at Fasig-Tipton. Going to Vegas is co-owned by the Taylor Made-affiliated Medallion Racing, along with Abbondanza Racing and MyRacehorse. “She’s had a tremendous year winning three graded stakes, including a Grade 1 last out,” Taylor continued. “She will be taking on the best turf mares in the world in the [Breeders’ Cup]. It’s a lot to ask, but she has a very high cruising speed and loves Del Mar.” A few hours before Going to Vegas steps into the Fasig-Tipton sales ring, the first weanlings by Maximus Mischief will have their sale debut. Maximus Mischief is another Into Mischief son standing at Spendthrift, which has continued to invest in its record-setting classic sire. In addition to Into Mischief and sons Authentic, Goldencents, and Maximus Mischief, the farm is expected to debut Goldencents’s son By My Standards in 2022. Maximus Mischief, winner of the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes as a juvenile, has five first-crop weanlings selected for the elite, single-session Fasig-Tipton November sale. He has 28 weanlings cataloged at the longer Keeneland November breeding stock sale, which begins Nov. 10. “I think they’re gonna be the darlings of the sales,” Toothaker said, adding that he feels the young stallion’s average sale price could stack up well against his introductory $7,500 stud fee. “I’m gonna be surprised if Maximus Mischief isn’t No. 1 in Kentucky in terms of return on investment. . . . Breeders just went crazy for them when they started hitting the ground.” Into Mischief has another son with first-crop weanlings in Audible, who stands at WinStar Farm. Audible won the 2018 Florida Derby – a race won since the turn of the century by successful sires Harlan’s Holiday, Empire Maker, Scat Daddy, Quality Road, Dialed In, Constitution, and Nyquist. Audible finished third to Triple Crown winner Justify in the Kentucky Derby. Audible will have three weanlings at Fasig-Tipton before moving on to a selection of 37 at Keeneland. “There’s pretty good word around town about the Audibles,” said Adrian Regan of consignor Hunter Valley Farm. “We’ve got a couple of nice Audibles.” Authentic leads this year’s first-season covering sires, having retired to Spendthrift after a season in which he won the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic to earn Horse of the Year honors. His first book not only sported quantity but quality, as proven producers he covered include Eltimaas, the dam of Eclipse Award champion Drefong; Steelin’, dam of Eclipse champion Shanghai Bobby; and Dawn Raid, dam of Preakness Stakes winner Exaggerator. “It was just a wonderful, wonderful book of mares,” Toothaker said. “We literally sat up in a conference room and fought over mares – really, if you weren’t a graded stakes winner or a graded stakes producer, it was tough.” Authentic got off to a good start with a unique opportunity in a special sale hosted by Fasig-Tipton as Pin Oak Stud dispersed its stock in September. The sale topper was $650,000 Don’t Leave Me, a Grade 3 winner in foal to the young stallion. “She was a lovely mare, it’s the right pedigree, we like the sire,” bloodstock agent Lincoln Collins, who signed for the mare on behalf of Woodford Thoroughbreds, said that evening. “As a commercial operation, you have to consider that a lot of times, these first-season stallions will be very popular.” Authentic is represented by four mares in foal at Fasig-Tipton November, including Super Girlie, dam of Grade 1 winner Super Stock, and the stakes winners Awesome Flower and Bella Aurora. His 28 mares in foal at Keeneland include Achalaya, the dam of Grade 1 winner Casa Creed. Also, the dams of graded stakes winners Enola Gay, Plainsman, Run Away, and Sweeping Paddy; graded stakes winners Dogwood Trail, Halo Dolly, and New and Improved; and stakes winners Mucho Amor, New York Groove, Quality Exhange, and Streak of Luck. Spendthrift young stallions Spendthrift Farm debuted an outstanding class of stallions in 2020, led by a pair of Eclipse Award champions. All are well represented at the upcoming November mixed sales, and the quality of their first-crop weanlings is evident by the number selected into the elite, single-session Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale. The smaller selection of weanlings in the Fasig-Tipton catalog, as opposed to the larger group at Keeneland November, means that fewer weanlings by any one sire will be represented, and the extreme selectivity of the catalog trends toward proven stock. Despite that, Spendthrift’s regally bred multiple Grade 1 winner Omaha Beach is represented by six first-crop weanlings in the Fasig November catalog, the most of any first-crop sire. Omaha Beach, by prominent sire War Front, is a half-brother to Eclipse Award champion Take Charge Brandi, from the family of Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady. Following Omaha Beach as the first-crop sires with the most weanlings in the catalog are three other Spendthrift stallions: Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Eclipse Award champion Vino Rosso and Grade 2 winner Maximus Mischief with five each, and Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner and Eclipse champion Mitole with four. Success brings expat sires back Caravaggio and Daredevil, both Kentucky-born stallions, spent time standing overseas before successes brought them to the U.S. for the 2021 season. Both will be represented by mares in foal from that season in the upcoming November mixed sales, and Daredevil, in particular, has a chance to make a statement. Daredevil was acquired toward the end of his freshman season in 2019 by the Turkish Jockey Club, which had been bullish in the North American bloodstock market that fall to build up its stallion ranks. After his departure, the young stallion’s stock skyrocketed. His daughters Shedaresthedevil and Swiss Skydiver swept the exacta in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, and Swiss Skydiver went on to win the Preakness Stakes over Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, securing herself a divisional Eclipse Award. Between them the two fillies have won 13 graded stakes. Both will be on offer as young racing/broodmare prospects at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale on Nov. 9, with Shedaresthedevil to start in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff three days prior. Daredevil was repatriated as a result of his daughters’ success in 2020, and is now standing at Lane’s End Farm as the property of the Turkish Jockey Club. He covered 95 mares in his return season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. Nineteen of those are cataloged at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, which begins Nov. 10. Caravaggio, twice a winner at the Royal Ascot meeting, stood the first three years of his stud career at Coolmore’s Irish headquarters. He achieved smashing success before the American marketplace with a handful of his first-crop yearlings offered at the 2020 Keeneland September yearling sale, averaging $212,833 from six sold. As a result of that popularity, Coolmore moved Caravaggio, a son of classic sire Scat Daddy, to its Ashford Stud in Kentucky, which had been the young stallion’s birthplace. He covered 194 mares in his first U.S. season – of which 13 are cataloged in foal at Keeneland November – and his popularity is sure to continue rising. Caravaggio has been a smashing success with his first runners, leading the freshman sire list with 23 individual winners worldwide, and sitting fourth by earnings. His winners include Group 1 winner Tenebrism, Group 2 winner Agartha, and stakes winners Dizzy Bizu and Her World.